Liberty Victoria welcomed the opportunity to make this submission in relation to the Victorian Law Reform Commission’s (Commission) review of the Role of the Victims of Crime in the Criminal Trial Process (Review).

Central to the Commission’s review is the question: what should the role of the victim be in the criminal trial process? In relation to consideration of this question, the Commission has indicated that it will inform itself with respect to what can be learnt from practice and what can be learnt from theory.

The legal apparatus that provides for a person with a cognitive disability to be detained, without review and on an indefinite basis, is concerning. The right to liberty, and the associated right to humane treatment while being deprived of liberty, are core tenets of Liberty Victoria[1] and are also enshrined under international human rights law.[2]

Liberty Victoria opposes the enactment of the Serious Sex Offenders (Detention and Supervision) Amendment (Community Safety) Bill 2016 (Vic) (“the Bill”). The principal issue is whether the measures proposed to be introduced by the Bill are reasonably adapted for the purpose of making the Victorian community safer, and constitute a proportionate limitation on the rights of people made subject to Serious Sex Offenders (Detention and Supervision) Act 2009 (“the SSODSA”) orders.

Liberty Victoria does not support the Infant Viability Bill 2015. We believe that the regulation of abortion has been dealt with appropriately under the Victorian Law Reform Act 2008.  The Act already provides for abortion post-24 weeks which, in any case, are extremely rare and only undertaken in emergency situations.  In addition, we believe that criminalising doctors, as this Bill proposes to do, is a highly regressive and disingenuous attempt to wind back the 2008 law.

Liberty Victoria has consistently raised concerns about the deleterious effect that offshore detention has on the human rights and well-being of asylum seekers, and of the Australian government’s outsourcing and obfuscation of its responsibilities under both domestic and international law.[1]

After working with Julian Burnside QC in his fight against unfair Myki fines, Young Liberty for Law reform created www.mykifines.org.au to help people understand their options when they are confronted by an Authorised Officer who tells them their Myki isn’t valid.

Liberty Victoria is opposed to the Bill which:

• Intimate partner violence is the top risk factor for death, disability and illness in Victorian women aged 15 – 44.
• One women is killed by her intimate partner almost every week.
• Aboriginal women are five times more likely to be killed than non-Aboriginal women.
• Women with disabilities experience higher levels and more diverse kinds of violence than women without disabilities.